ConnectNYC vs Optimum · verified 5 Aug 2026
Optimum’s five-year lock is real.
It beats a one-year teaser. The decision now is what the lock covers, what it does not, and what happens in month 61.
Source: optimum.com/internet — checked 5 Aug 2026.
Side by side
Start with the part Optimum improved.
The comparison turns on the conditions, the add-ons, and the day that 60-month promotion ends.
| What matters | ConnectNYC | Optimum (advertised) |
|---|---|---|
| Advertised monthly price | $89 / $119 / $149 | $30 / $40 / $50 promotional tiers |
| Advertised download | 150 / 300 / 600 Mbps | 300 / 500 / 1 Gig |
| Price duration | Plan price unchanged while service remains active on that plan | Five-year price lock during a 60-month promotional period |
| Price conditions | No AutoPay, bank-account, or paperless-billing requirement | AutoPay and paperless billing through a bank account |
| Taxes and fees | Included in the monthly price | Added to the advertised prices |
| Router or gateway | Bring your own for $0, or buy ours for $149 once | $0 for 12 months; then may rise by up to $5 a year until standard rates |
| Month 61 | Same plan price while active on that plan | The promotional period has ended — ask which internet and gateway rates apply |
| Published upload | 50 / 100 / 200 Mbps, by plan | Check the exact offer and Broadband Facts label for your address |
| Speed protection | NYC Speed Guarantee for qualifying persistent network-caused shortfalls, with credits | Compare the written speed remedy, if any, in the offer you receive |
| Support and cancellation | Human support by email; cancel anytime | Confirm the current support and cancellation channels before ordering |
Optimum’s $30/$40/$50 tiers are lower than ours, and the five-year lock is real. Those prices require AutoPay and paperless billing through a bank account; taxes and fees are added. Compare the order summary for your address before deciding.
Source: optimum.com/internet — checked 5 Aug 2026.
Year one vs year six
The lock holds for 60 months. The question starts at 61.
Taxes and fees sit outside Optimum’s advertised prices, and the gateway can change after the first 12 months.
What is genuinely locked
The advertised $30/$40/$50 internet price during the 60-month promotional period, when you meet the AutoPay and paperless-billing bank-account conditions. Five years is five years.
What is not
Taxes and fees are added to those prices. The gateway is $0 for the first 12 months, then may increase by up to $5 a year until standard rates.
The month-61 question
The promotion has an end date. Before you order, ask Optimum to state the internet price and gateway rate that apply in month 61.
Source: optimum.com/internet — checked 5 Aug 2026.
Where they win
Five years is not a teaser year.
Optimum is advertising lower monthly prices than ours and locking them for a 60-month promotional period. If you meet the bank-account AutoPay and paperless-billing conditions, that is a meaningful price advantage.
Our case cannot honestly be “their price jumps next year.” It does not. Our case is simpler: taxes included, no AutoPay or paperless-billing condition, no equipment escalation, no promotional window, and a plan price that stays put while you stay on the plan.
If five years at the lower advertised price matters most, Optimum may be the better fit. If you want the price after year five settled today, compare the terms that survive month 60.
Source: optimum.com/internet — checked 5 Aug 2026.
Switching
Leave clean. No drama.
Keep Optimum running until ConnectNYC is installed and tested. That overlap avoids a planned gap.
Check your address first
Don’t cancel anything yet. Type your address into the checker below — you’ll know whether your block is inside our live area. No email, no sales call. A person confirms the building after you request the building check.
Get us running alongside
Pick a plan. An apartment install is $150 once; a single-family home or townhouse is $999 once. After the building check we tell you whether yours self-installs or gets a professional visit. Run both connections for a few days and let the speed tests settle the argument.
Close the old account carefully
Confirm Optimum’s current cancellation and equipment-return steps on its site or in your order documents. Save the return receipt and read the final bill line by line.
Weighing someone else? The same dated side-by-sides: vs Spectrum, vs Astound (RCN), vs T-Mobile 5G, vs Starlink.
No pressure. Just an answer.
Check my area.
Optimum’s lock runs 60 months. Ours has no promotional window to outlast. Start with your building.
The checker answers for the area, W 57th to 110th St; one apartment is enough to ask. A person checks the exact building, then replies by email with the result. If a survey is the next step, we can offer one as soon as the next day.
Optimum’s advertised $30/$40/$50 tiers require AutoPay and paperless billing through a bank account and are offered within a 60-month promotional period protected by a five-year price lock. Taxes and fees are added. The gateway is $0 for 12 months, then may rise by up to $5 each year until standard rates. Confirm the order summary before deciding. Optimum is a trademark of Altice USA.
Source: optimum.com/internet — checked 5 Aug 2026.